There’s something about baking without a time constraint; without any pressure; no rush. Essentially, baking just because you feel like baking. I rarely bake, mainly because I have little self-restraint and if it’s in my house, I’ll eat it. I do much better when my fridge and cupboards are stocked with whole, nutrient rich, healthy foods.

However, this Christmas Eve morning, I was inspired by 3 beyond-ripe bananas on my kitchen countertop and a husband-to-be with a love for warm, baked goods.

Why do we love soup? Yes, it’s comfort food. And yes, it’s warming to your body. And yes, it can be incredibly quick and easy to make. But given that we’re busy sisters who work, study, raise a child, and still try to have a social life with friends, cooking one nutritious and delicious meal each day can be demanding. So we love something like soup that can be made in big batches ahead of time, taken to-go, and easily re-heated!

Today’s soup is Yam, Carrot & Cinnamon. If you like a healthy dose of flavour, double up on the cinnamon (we sure do).

Tina and I haven’t been shy about our love for Naturopathic medicine, and how our own Naturopathic Doctors (ND’s) have helped us. What we haven’t written about before is politics as it relates to our food and health. But, we think this is important enough to change that.

So, lately we’ve been cruisin’ the isle’s for a low sugar, AFFORDABLE granola. We’re convinced one doesn’t exist. $6.00 for a tiny box of the stuff is outrageous! Yet again, we learn that if you want something done right you’ve got to do it yourself. We threw this granola together in a flash for a last minute brunch we were hosting and of course, everyone loved it!

Yup! You heard us, beet and watercress together at last. This salad was actually an accident, we intended to use arugula but it was almost three times the price as watercress so we quickly changed our minds. Watercress has such a peppery flavor that we knew it would fit in just fine. Add some goat feta a handful of mint and a vinegar dressing and we had ourselves a killer spring salad.

In this world of crazy processed food and bizarre snacks that claim to be natural and made from pure ingredients when some say they’re not even really food, baked kale chips are a healthy, simple homemade alternative when you just need a little something to snack on. Warning: this snack is so tasty the aforementioned “little” may turn into “a lot”…and we will not be held responsible.

It was one of those days when I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner. My mom was visiting from BC and we wanted to cook something together. “Why not lasagna?”, she said. I had never made a lasagna before so I thought, what a perfect time to create a vegetarian lasagna for all our veggie friends?! The result is a dish fine enough to serve your meat-lovin’ friends too.

We’re huge soup fans. Like, huge! A fabulous catch-all for vegetables in your fridge, and super easy to make while you’re multitasking with that big life/work/home project (soup pretty much cooks itself!). This is an incredibly simple vegetarian, dairy and gluten free soup. If you’re a meat eater, you can use chicken stock instead of veggie stock. The key is to bake the squash first, so don’t skip that step!

This heavenly, delicious Roasted Garlic & Potato Pizza is Willowtree’s monthly collaboration with Andrea of Heavy Petal. Just as you have received in past month’s, we provide a recipe using a seasonal ingredient, then Andrea provides her tips for growing that ingredient in your garden.

This was our first attempt at making potato pizza and we’ll tell ya, it was a breeze. What makes this a dream pizza for food sensitivity folks is that there is no sauce or cheese, and if you use Willowtree’s gluten free . And adding a sprinkle of course sea salt (we love Maldon) gives an extra dimension and crunch.